This is the moment an alligator swiftly devoured one of its own without thinking twice.

这是一只鳄鱼毫不犹豫地迅速吃掉自己的一只幼崽的一刻。

Horrifying photographs shows the baby reptile desperately wiggling for freedom at Brazos Bend State Park in Needville, Texas.

这组恐怖照片显示，在德克萨斯州尼德维尔的布拉佐湾州立公园，这只鳄鱼宝宝拼命挣扎，希望获得自由。

Photographer Brad Streets, 31, was blown away by the brazen act of cannibalism.

31岁的摄影师布拉德·斯特里特被这种肆无忌惮的同类相残行为震惊了。

He stopped by the river after noticing a "gut pile" floating in the river.

他注意到河里漂浮着一堆“内脏”，就在河边停了下来。

But minutes later he saw the larger alligator snatch the baby by the neck, before swallowing itwhole.

但几分钟后，他看到大鳄鱼咬住了小鳄鱼的脖子，然后把它整个吞了下去。

 

He said: "I wasn't sure what was going on at first, I saw a gut pile floating by the large alligator so I stopped to observe."

他说：“一开始我不知道发生了什么，我看到大鳄鱼肚子上漂浮着一堆东西，所以我停下来观察。”

"It wasn't until about an hour later that I finally got to glance at it and saw that it was, in fact, another much smaller alligator in its mouth. I was very excited to be seeing nature at work in this way."

“直到大约一个小时后，我才瞥了一眼它，发现它嘴里其实是另一只小得多的鳄鱼。看到自然之道是这样的，我非常兴奋。”

Cannibalism is not extraordinary in the alligator community. Experts William Roots and Robert Chabreck said the reptiles devour babies in a bid to regulate their population.

在鳄鱼族群中，同类相食并不稀奇。专家威廉·鲁茨和罗伯特·查布里克称，爬行动物会吞食幼崽以控制数量。

Discussing the extent of cannibalism in the gator community, the pair said the act strongly influences the competitive interactions and life histories of populations.

在讨论鳄鱼族群同类相食的程度时，这两位专家表示，这种行为强烈地影响着族群间的竞争互动和生命历史。